Help...before I throw this Mac Pro out the window.

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Hey guys,

As a few of you may know I bought a 2008 mac pro on eBay. It's equipped with. 750gb hard drive 14gb ram and 2x quad core CPUs.

I got it for £999 so fantastic, anyways I get in from doing a few errands and its there in my living room a giant Mac Pro box

It's nicely packaged so I open it up, get the power lead carry it up stairs and put it in its place in my little music studio, connect the mouse, keyboard and monitors, plug in the power cable and press the power button.

And it powers on but there is no video, the white power led is on and that's it... I've opened the case and had a look around but I don't know where to start.

Any help would be great, as you can tell by the name of the thread I'm a bit annoyed by it but I'm going to go for a jog.... And yes before anyone tells me to I have contacted the seller.

Thanks very much.

ScratchyMoose · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
And it powers on but there is no video, the white power led is on and that's it...

that's so annoying! I sold a G5 (pre Mac Pro but similar) on ebay once, and the video card came a bit loose in transit. The buyer took it to a computer repairer and i paid for their time (to put the card back in place).

So, have a look on the web for a video of how to replace a video card, and follow the instructions to take it out and put it back in again (but make sure to keep touching the case or some sort of ground to discharge any static).

Hope it clears up

ChrisMan287 · Dec 13, 2012

Throw it back in that box and send it my way

DanielCoffey · Dec 13, 2012

Here is a 2008 Mac Pro tour from YouTube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vHyoNO1oiI

That should help you find your way around.

Note : If you have a nvidia 8800GT in it, there may be problems with it that can be fixed by baking the card. Yes, seriously... google "8800GT bake".

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Thanks for your support guys, I can't believe baking a gpu can solve and issue (its not the gpu I have but I'm amazed) if I have a problem with anything electrical in the future I'm going to make sure I've tried making it into a pie before looking for answers

haha

I'm going to try your suggestions and ill let you know, also the eBay seller has been very supportive with regards to the issue and gave me a few things to try as we'll.

I really didn't think the eBay seller would have been bother a single bit so that's a plus side, have any of you ever had an issue like this on eBay? What would happen if I don't get the item working? As the buyer said no refunds :'(

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Ok guys,

I've removed the gpu, no joy. I've removed each stick of ram and reseated with no joy.

I've removed each stick of ram individually and guess what? No joy.

I have noticed a red light in the case, which I've took a photo with on my iPhone and it is under the letters ERRB (the last one could be an 8) I also noticed the diag button. I assumed this was short for diagnostics so I gave it a pok and the lights below gpu and pwrg turned green.

I assume green lights mean all is ok and the red light means this is the broken bit, but what on earth is a ERRB/8 ?

Also I should mention there are no sounds upon powering up other than just the sound of fans... I'm going to check the hdd next to see if that may have become broke in transit

----------

I've now connected the Mac Pro hdd to my MacBook and that is working fine.

Running out of ideas now

DanielCoffey · Dec 13, 2012

If you bought it through eBay you are protected whether the buyer said "no refunds" or not.

Just in case it does not work, read up on the time limits for an eBay dispute. You will not lose your money if the buyer shipped you anything faulty, especially if you have the email trail inside eBay of correspondence to and from the seller. Don't use private email - only correspond through the eBay message system as it is all logged. Be polite but make sure the seller knows there is a fault now.

If he pushes the line of "no refunds", go straight to the eBay dispute centre right away. You will have to ship it back but eBay may assist you in getting the money back for that too.

End of the day, if it is faulty, it goes back and you get your money back.

EDIT : look at this... http://www.scribd.com/doc/51667130/52/Diagnostic-LEDs

ERRB is CPU B Error. It is possible that CPU B heat sink took a knock, shifting the processor. There are a few things to try if you read down a page or two.

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Well, I've got rid of the ERRB light now... I've removed the ram on both trays and its ok.

But still not booting, I've pressed the diagnostics button again and have a yellow light under stby (presumably standby?) so I'm sat here rattling my mouse and frantically pressing the keyboard to try and wake the machine up... Might need to set and alarm clock for it haha.

Thanks for the link I'm having a read trough that now

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Hello again,

I've tried everything now, Sometimes the ERRB lights up other times no (majority of the time it lights up)

It all seems to point to the CPU or logic board being busted.

The eBay sender has sent me this in the original box with the original styrofoam packaging... Could the CPU or logic board really break in transit?

I want to know this before I go back to the seller and say oi the logic board is broke.

darkcoupon · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
Hello again,

I've tried everything now, Sometimes the ERRB lights up other times no (majority of the time it lights up)

It all seems to point to the CPU or logic board being busted.

The eBay sender has sent me this in the original box with the original styrofoam packaging... Could the CPU or logic board really break in transit?

I want to know this before I go back to the seller and say oi the logic board is broke.

If ERRB light is on and you're comfortable taking your computer apart, try removing the heatsink and reseating the processor and inspecting the CPU socket. Make sure you have thermal paste on hand before removing heatsink, though, so you can reapply it before putting everything back together. Or just take it somewhere that will do it for you.

If the processor or socket are damaged you should get your money back.

666sheep · Dec 13, 2012

This LED doesn't necessarily mean CPU failure. It could also light when PCIe card error is detected (see Service manual). Remove GPU, put back HDD with OS in MP (before that turn on screen sharing while you'll be booted off of it on MacBook) and try to access it remotely from MacBook. If it will work, GPU is shot. If it won't work, issue is more serious.

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

The Mac Pro won't boot and since its the first time I've used it (the eBay seller did a fresh install of snow leopard on it) it isn't set up for screen sharing and I cannot connect it to my wireless network.

I suppose I can try a gpu from one of my gaming rigs but I don't think they are mac compatible.

If this is the end of the road I'm not sure whether to ask the buyer for my money back, or make a claim on my home insurance. I've worked with home insurance for years and with saying the right thing at the right time I'm almost certain I can get a 12 core Mac Pro out of this.

Any more ideas guys... I really want this machine to work.

666sheep · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
I've now connected the Mac Pro hdd to my MacBook and that is working fine.

If you'd be able to boot your MacBook from MP's HDD, you can setup screen sharing this way, then put it back in MP. You can setup built-in VNC server that same way.

Other test what you can try is to boot MP in target disk mode (you'll need firewire cable). If MP HDD will appear on MacBook's desktop, you'll know at least that MP does POST.

darkcoupon · Dec 13, 2012

If Mac Pro is not booting it's likely not the GPU as it would still boot, just without screen.

Not booting + ERRB light leads me to believe it's a CPU related issue.

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

666sheep said:
If you'd be able to boot your MacBook from MP's HDD, you can setup screen sharing this way, then put it back in MP. You can setup built-in VNC server that same way.

Other test what you can try is to boot MP in target disk mode (you'll need firewire cable). If MP HDD will appear on MacBook's desktop, you'll know at least that MP does POST.

If this works I will build a shrine to you.

666sheep · Dec 13, 2012

darkcoupon said:
If Mac Pro is not booting it's likely not the GPU as it would still boot, just without screen.

Not booting + ERRB light leads me to believe it's a CPU related issue.

Under certain conditions (muted sound - no chime and, let's say very quiet HDD or SSD) booting without video could look like not booting at all. That's why I'm advicing remote access tests to the OP.
CPUs don't die just like that. Even if whole casing would be shot (bad handling during shipping - this seems not to be the OP's problem), CPU should survive.
Of course if machine was perfectly working before shipping

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

Well, I've tried booting into the mac pros disk and setting it up for screen sharing and connecting to my network etc.

I've then it it back in the mp and booted and nothing.

I tried using it as target disk but I think I may have done something wrong, the mp disk is attached to my mbp trough a USB cable, so I've booted into the mp disk and the told it to boot in target mode, which in turn just showed a big FireWire symbol on my mbp.

The buyer is happy to have the item back and refund me the money so not everything is lost, she tells me it was working before hand and in all honesty I believe her as she is a respected photographer and very renowned for her work with adobe Lightroom and stuff and she even has a few books.

I under the same impression as you 666sheep, the CPU won't be dislodged other wise the case would be damaged or at least the box it arrived in.

I am getting power from the USB ports on the front and back of the machine so the logic board seems to work in that aspect.

Can you please go over setting it up for target disk mode again as I might have missed something.

darkcoupon · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
Well, I've tried booting into the mac pros disk and setting it up for screen sharing and connecting to my network etc.

I've then it it back in the mp and booted and nothing.

I tried using it as target disk but I think I may have done something wrong, the mp disk is attached to my mbp trough a USB cable, so I've booted into the mp disk and the told it to boot in target mode, which in turn just showed a big FireWire symbol on my mbp.

The buyer is happy to have the item back and refund me the money so not everything is lost, she tells me it was working before hand and in all honesty I believe her as she is a respected photographer and very renowned for her work with adobe Lightroom and stuff and she even has a few books.

I under the same impression as you 666sheep, the CPU won't be dislodged other wise the case would be damaged or at least the box it arrived in.

I am getting power from the USB ports on the front and back of the machine so the logic board seems to work in that aspect.

Can you please go over setting it up for target disk mode again as I might have missed something.

Sounds like you're booting MBP in Target Disk mode. I think what 666sheep was saying was if you couldn't boot from MP disk, put it back in MP and boot MP in Target Disk mode, and then connect MBP via Firewire to see if MP disk appears on MBP desktop.

minifridge1138 · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
Well, I've tried booting into the mac pros disk and setting it up for screen sharing and connecting to my network etc.

I've then it it back in the mp and booted and nothing.

I tried using it as target disk but I think I may have done something wrong, the mp disk is attached to my mbp trough a USB cable, so I've booted into the mp disk and the told it to boot in target mode, which in turn just showed a big FireWire symbol on my mbp.

That's because you did it wrong (no offense).
It sounds like you booted your MacBook Pro into Target Disk Mode (which is the opposite of what you want).

If you want to use Target Disk mode, then you boot the Mac Pro holding the 'T' key on the keyboard. If you had video, then you'd see the firewire symbol.

The connect he Mac Pro (in Target Disk Mode) to the Mac Book Pro with a firewire cable. Boot the MacBook Pro and hold the option key. You'll see a list of hard drives you can boot off of. One is the hard drive in the Mac Pro. Pick that one, and you'll be running the MacPro hard drive from the MBP. Setup screen sharing, VNC, etc..

Separately, if you can connect the MacPro's hard drive to the MacBook Pro with USB, then you don't need target disk mode. Just plug the hard drive in with the USB cable, hold option on the MacBook Pro as you boot, and pick the USB hard drive. Target Disk Mode would just have saved you the trouble of physically removing the hard drive.

666sheep · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
I tried using it as target disk but I think I may have done something wrong, the mp disk is attached to my mbp trough a USB cable, so I've booted into the mp disk and the told it to boot in target mode, which in turn just showed a big FireWire symbol on my mbp.

1. disk must be in MP
2. connect both computers with firewire cable
3. boot MacBook normally
4. boot MP with "T" pressed on kbd

You should see MP's HDD icon on MacBook desktop if MP does POST. Ofc try it without graphics card in MP. POST examines all hardware and lets it to run booting process (in general).
You can try reset PRAM too, not that it would help, but to bring volume level to factory setting. If you'll get chime, you're good. If you won't, get a refund.

The buyer is happy to have the item back and refund me the money so not everything is lost, she tells me it was working before hand and in all honesty I believe her as she is a respected photographer and very renowned for her work with adobe Lightroom and stuff and she even has a few books.

That's great news. Good to deal with honest people.

darkcoupon · Dec 13, 2012

666sheep said:
Under certain conditions (muted sound - no chime and, let's say very quiet HDD or SSD) booting without video could look like not booting at all. That's why I'm advicing remote access tests to the OP.
CPUs don't die just like that. Even if whole casing would be shot (bad handling during shipping - this seems not to be the OP's problem), CPU should survive.
Of course if machine was perfectly working before shipping

Good point, but if it turns out to not be the GPU and the machine was working before shipping, perhaps something was knocked or dropped while preparing it for shipping. Maybe a heatsink was loosened for whatever reason.

skitzodancer · Dec 13, 2012

O guys, I really appreciate your input so far and I really hope we can sort this as I really want to keep the mp. I've always wanted a mp since they were first announced.

I'm going to try target disk mode tomorrow and no doubt ill post again about this, I may also speak with apple regarding this to see if they give any advice but I'm sure they would want me to take it in for an inspection so they can get some money out of me.

Also in one of 666sheep's posts I noticed you said its not the op's problem, what is an op?

salacious · Dec 13, 2012

just return it man its obviously not working

MisterKeeks · Dec 13, 2012

skitzodancer said:
Also in one of 666sheep's posts I noticed you said its not the op's problem, what is an op?

OP = Original Poster. (you)

MacPoulet · Dec 13, 2012

When I took my Mac Pro 1,1 apart the other day for a CPU swap, I had a similar issue. I did find an SMC reset button and a logic board reset button. I did both and I got the chime. Does the 3,1 Pro have something similar?

Help...before I throw this Mac Pro out the window.

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